scholarly journals Strong linkages between depth, longevity and demographic stability across marine sessile species

2018 ◽  
Vol 285 (1873) ◽  
pp. 20172688 ◽  
Author(s):  
I. Montero-Serra ◽  
C. Linares ◽  
D. F. Doak ◽  
J. B. Ledoux ◽  
J. Garrabou
Keyword(s):  
Life Histories ◽  
Environmental Gradients ◽  
Demographic Data ◽  
Natural Populations ◽  
Maximum Lifespan ◽  
Disturbance Intensity ◽  
Evolution Of Life ◽  
Extreme Longevity

Understanding the role of the environment in shaping the evolution of life histories remains a major challenge in ecology and evolution. We synthesize longevity patterns of marine sessile species and find strong positive relationships between depth and maximum lifespan across multiple sessile marine taxa, including corals, bivalves, sponges and macroalgae. Using long-term demographic data on marine sessile and terrestrial plant species, we show that extreme longevity leads to strongly dampened population dynamics. We also used detailed analyses of Mediterranean red coral, with a maximum lifespan of 532 years, to explore the life-history patterns of long-lived taxa and the vulnerability to external mortality sources that these characteristics can create. Depth-related environmental gradients—including light, food availability, temperature and disturbance intensity—drive highly predictable distributions of life histories that, in turn, have predictable ecological consequences for the dynamics of natural populations.

scholarly journals Trophic Features, Benthic Recovery, and Dominance of the Invasive Mytilopsis Sallei in the Yundang Lagoon (Xiamen, China) Following Long-Term Restoration

Water ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 11 (8) ◽  
pp. 1692 ◽  
Author(s):  
Paolo Magni ◽  
Serena Como ◽  
Maria Flavia Gravina ◽  
Donghui Guo ◽  
Chao Li ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Land Reclamation ◽  
Environmental Gradients ◽  
Oxygen Demand ◽  
Current Status ◽  
Pest Species ◽  
Future Evolution ◽  
Mytilopsis Sallei ◽  
Biological Tool

A comprehensive set of physicochemical variables in near-bottom water and surface sediments, as well as the soft-bottom macrozoobenthic assemblages were investigated at six sites across the Yundang Lagoon (Southeast China) in November 2012. This lagoon was severely damaged in the 1970s due to domestic and industrial pollution and land reclamation and underwent a massive restoration effort over the past 30 years. Our objectives were to: (1) assess the current trophic and environmental condition of the lagoon; (2) investigate the pattern of spatial variation in the macrozoobenthic assemblages; and (3) assess the benthic recovery in relation to the main environmental gradients and the presence of invasive alien species. Nutrient, chlorophyll-a, biological oxygen demand (BOD5), chemical oxygen demand (CODMn), and total organic carbon (TOC) concentrations were lower than those reported in previous decades, yet organically-enriched conditions occurred at an inner site. From azoic conditions in the 1980s and a few benthic species reported prior to this study, we found a significant increase in benthic diversity with 43 species heterogeneously distributed across the lagoon. The invasive bivalve Mytilopsis sallei was the dominant species, which was associated with the richest benthic assemblage. However, M. sallei is a pest species, and its spatiotemporal distribution should be carefully monitored. These results highlight the central role of the macrozoobenthos in providing important ecological information on the current status of the Yundang Lagoon and as an effective biological tool to follow the recovery’s progress and the future evolution of this highly valued ecosystem.

scholarly journals Phylogeographic parallelism: concordance of patterns in closely related species illuminates underlying mechanisms in the historically glaciated Tasmanian landscape

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
K. Kreger ◽  
B. Shaban ◽  
E. Wapstra ◽  
C.P. Burridge
Keyword(s):  
Life Histories ◽  
Glacial Refugia ◽  
High Elevation ◽  
Similar Species ◽  
Closely Related Species ◽  
Past Climate Change ◽  
Underlying Mechanisms ◽  
Environmental Tolerances

AbstractPhylogeography provides a means to understand mechanisms that shaped the distribution and abundance of species, including the role of past climate change. While concordant phylogeographic relationships across diverse taxa suggest shared underlying mechanisms (“phylogeographic parallelism”), it is also possible that similar patterns are the product of different mechanisms (“phylogeographic convergence”), reflecting variation among taxa in factors such as environmental tolerances, life histories, and vagility. Hence, phylogeographic concordance among closely related and ecologically similar species can yield a more confident understanding of the past mechanisms which shaped their distribution and abundance. This study documented mitochondrial and nuclear phylogeographic patterns in the ectotherm skink, Niveoscincus metallicus, which occupies historically glaciated regions of Tasmania, and contrasted these with the closely related and broadly sympatric N. ocellatus. Major phylogeographic breaks were similar in location between the two species, and indicative of isolation caused by retreat from high elevation areas during glaciations, but with long-term persistence at multiple low elevation sites. Hence, Pleistocene glacial refugia were altitudinal rather than latitudinal, a pattern mirrored in other temperate Southern Hemisphere taxa. This study also examined phylogeographic patterns across the intermittently inundated Bassian Isthmus between mainland Australia and the island of Tasmania, and revealed that structuring is similarly maintained when populations were physically isolated during interglacial rather than glacial stages.

Phenotypic effects of leptin in an ectotherm: a new tool to study the evolution of life histories and endothermy?

2000 ◽  
Vol 203 (2) ◽  
pp. 295-300 ◽  
Author(s):  
P.H. Niewiarowski ◽  
M.L. Balk ◽  
R.L. Londraville
Keyword(s):  
Life Histories ◽  
Evolutionary Biology ◽  
Fold Increase ◽  
Human Obesity ◽  
Sceloporus Undulatus ◽  
Research Activity ◽  
Age At First Reproduction ◽  
Evolution Of Life ◽  
Phosphate Buffered Saline

Leptin is a hormone that regulates energy expenditure and body mass in mammals, and it has attracted considerable attention because of its potential in treating human obesity. Comprehensive data from both pathological and non-pathological systems strongly support a role for leptin in regulating energy metabolism, in thermoregulation and in regulating the onset of puberty. We report here that daily injections of recombinant murine leptin in fence lizards (Sceloporus undulatus) produce phenotypic effects similar to those observed when leptin injections are given to mice. Lizards injected with leptin had body temperatures 0.6 degrees C higher, ate 30 % less food and showed a 14 % reduction in activity rates, and females showed a 2. 5-fold increase in resting metabolic rates, compared with lizards injected with vehicle only (phosphate-buffered saline). We also detected native lizard leptin using an immunoassay. Our results indicate that leptin is expressed in ectotherms and may be conserved both functionally and structurally. In the wake of unprecedented research activity on the role of leptin as a cause of, and potential treatment for, human obesity, we believe that other applications of leptin research have been ignored. For example, the response of lizards to leptin injection in our study has important implications for two broad areas of research in evolutionary biology: the evolution of age at first reproduction and of endothermy. We argue that research in these areas, previously limited to comparative approaches, may now benefit from experimental manipulations using leptin.

scholarly journals The Phylogenetic Approach to Avian Life Histories: An Important Complement to Within-Population Studies

The Condor ◽  
2000 ◽  
Vol 102 (1) ◽  
pp. 52-59 ◽  
Author(s):  
David W. Winkler
Keyword(s):  
Life History ◽  
Life Histories ◽  
Life History Traits ◽  
Statistical Convergence ◽  
Phylogenetic Analyses ◽  
Life History Evolution ◽  
Life History Variation ◽  
Evolution Of Life ◽  
Character Variation

Abstract In recent years, two approaches have emerged for the analysis of character evolution: the largely statistical “convergence” approach and the mainly cladistic “homology” approach. I discuss the strengths and weaknesses of these approaches as they apply to phylogenetic analyses of life-history variation in birds. Using examples from analyses of character variation in swallows, I suggest that the phylogenetic approach yields distinctive insights into the selective role of the environment and other characters of the organism on the evolution of life-history traits. This view thus has the potential of bringing together micro- and macro-evolutionary views of life-history evolution.

scholarly journals Variations of Secondary Metabolites among Natural Populations of Sub-Antarctic Ranunculus Species Suggest Functional Redundancy and Versatility

Plants ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 8 (7) ◽  
pp. 234 ◽  
Author(s):  
Bastien Labarrere ◽  
Andreas Prinzing ◽  
Thomas Dorey ◽  
Emeline Chesneau ◽  
Françoise Hennion
Keyword(s):  
High Performance Liquid Chromatography ◽  
Liquid Chromatography ◽  
High Performance ◽  
Environmental Changes ◽  
Environmental Gradients ◽  
Natural Populations ◽  
Phenotypic Traits ◽  
Geographical Regions ◽  
The Relationship

Plants produce a high diversity of metabolites which help them sustain environmental stresses and are involved in local adaptation. However, shaped by both the genome and the environment, the patterns of variation of the metabolome in nature are difficult to decipher. Few studies have explored the relative parts of geographical region versus environment or phenotype in metabolomic variability within species and none have discussed a possible effect of the region on the correlations between metabolites and environments or phenotypes. In three sub-Antarctic Ranunculus species, we examined the role of region in metabolite differences and in the relationship between individual compounds and environmental conditions or phenotypic traits. Populations of three Ranunculus species were sampled across similar environmental gradients in two distinct geographical regions in îles Kerguelen. Two metabolite classes were studied, amines (quantified by high-performance liquid chromatography and fluorescence spectrophotometry) and flavonols (quantified by ultra-high-performance liquid chromatography with triple quadrupole mass spectrometry). Depending on regions, the same environment or the same trait may be related to different metabolites, suggesting metabolite redundancy within species. In several cases, a given metabolite showed different or even opposite relations with the same environmental condition or the same trait across the two regions, suggesting metabolite versatility within species. Our results suggest that metabolites may be functionally redundant and versatile within species, both in their response to environments and in their relation with the phenotype. These findings open new perspectives for understanding evolutionary responses of plants to environmental changes.

scholarly journals Imprinting can cause a maladaptive preference for infectious conspecifics

2016 ◽  
Vol 12 (4) ◽  
pp. 20160020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jessica F. Stephenson ◽  
Michael Reynolds
Keyword(s):  
Disease Transmission ◽  
Poecilia Reticulata ◽  
Natural Populations ◽  
Sensory Ecology ◽  
Choice Test ◽  
Long Term Memory ◽  
Adult Disease ◽  
Social Decisions

Recognizing and associating with specific individuals, such as conspecifics or kin, brings many benefits. One mechanism underlying such recognition is imprinting: the long-term memory of cues encountered during development. Typically, juveniles imprint on cues of nearby individuals and may later associate with phenotypes matching their ‘recognition template’. However, phenotype matching could lead to maladaptive social decisions if, for instance, individuals imprint on the cues of conspecifics infected with directly transmitted diseases. To investigate the role of imprinting in the sensory ecology of disease transmission, we exposed juvenile guppies, Poecilia reticulata , to the cues of healthy conspecifics, or to those experiencing disease caused by the directly transmitted parasite Gyrodactylus turnbulli . In a dichotomous choice test, adult ‘disease-imprinted’ guppies preferred to associate with the chemical cues of G. turnbulli -infected conspecifics, whereas ‘healthy-imprinted’ guppies preferred to associate with cues of uninfected conspecifics. These responses were only observed when stimulus fish were in late infection, suggesting imprinted fish responded to cues of disease, but not of infection alone. We discuss how maladaptive imprinting may promote disease transmission in natural populations of a social host.

scholarly journals Resistance variation in natural plant populations

2002 ◽  
Vol 38 (SI 1 - 6th Conf EFPP 2002) ◽  
pp. S145-S150 ◽  
Author(s):  
J.J. Burdon ◽  
P.H. Thrall
Keyword(s):  
Physical Environment ◽  
Life Histories ◽  
Wild Plant ◽  
Plant Populations ◽  
Natural Plant ◽  
Multiple Populations ◽  
Resistance Variation ◽  
Pathogen Populations

The general outcomes of long-term trajectories of coevolutionary interactions between specific hosts and pathogens are<br />set by the interaction of their life histories. However, within those outcomes the speed of co-evolutionary responses and<br />the extent of their expression in the resistance/virulence structure of wild plant and pathogen populations respectively,<br />are highly variable characters changing from place-to-place and time-to-time as a result of the interaction of host and<br />pathogen with the physical environment. As a consequence, understanding of the role of diseases in the evolution of their<br />hosts requires approaches that simultaneously deal with host and pathogen structures over multiple populations within a<br />metapopulation framework.

Constraints in the evolution of life histories

1991 ◽  
Vol 332 (1262) ◽  
pp. 3-13 ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Life History ◽  
Life Histories ◽  
Ecological Impact ◽  
Genetic Studies ◽  
Local Optima ◽  
Trade Offs ◽  
Evolution Of Life ◽  
Diversity Of Life ◽  
Irreversible Evolution

The life history favoured by natural selection maximizes fitness, and this implies maximization of fecundity and survival at all ages. The observed diversity in life histories suggests that there are constraints on what can be achieved in practice. Functional constraints occur if only certain combinations of age-specific fertility and survival are possible, either because of the physiology of the organism or because of the ecological impact of its environment. The resulting constrained optimization means that the organism is involved in making trade-offs between life-history characters. A major task for the future is the measurement of trade-off functions in the environment in which the life-history evolved. Natural variation between individuals and populations, genetic studies and experimental manipulations have all been used to detect trade-offs. The last two methods are the most satisfactory, and can be complementary. Experimental manipulations are at their best when based on sound physiological understanding of the traits under manipulation. Constraints can also operate on the long-term. Local optima, evolutionary lags and irreversible evolution may all have contributed to the diversity of life histories.

scholarly journals Maturation of Newfoundland American plaice (Hippoglossoides platessoides): long-term trends in maturation reaction norms despite low fishing mortality?

2005 ◽  
Vol 62 (1) ◽  
pp. 56-64 ◽  
Author(s):  
S. Barot ◽  
M. Heino ◽  
M.J. Morgan ◽  
U. Dieckmann
Keyword(s):  
Life Histories ◽  
Gulf Of Maine ◽  
Life History Evolution ◽  
Reaction Norms ◽  
Fishing Mortality ◽  
Evolutionary Changes ◽  
Younger Age ◽  
Evolution Of Life ◽  
Long Term Trends

Abstract To interpret long-term trends in age and size at maturation, new statistical methods have recently been devised for estimating probabilistic maturation reaction norms based on data collected for the management of fisheries. Here we apply these methods to three Newfoundland stocks of American plaice (NAFO Divisions 2J3K, 3LNO, 3Ps) and report a clear long-term shift in the maturation reaction norms of these stocks towards maturation at younger age and smaller size. Theory predicts that such trends could result from fishing acting as a selective force, inducing evolutionary changes in the life histories of exploited populations. Matching long-term trends in maturation reactions norms have already been documented for several stocks that have experienced high fishing pressures (Gulf of Maine and Georges Bank cod, Northeast Arctic cod, North Sea plaice). Our results add a new dimension to these earlier findings: since fishing pressures for two stocks of Newfoundland plaice (2J3K and 3Ps) have been relatively low, our results imply that fishing is likely to result in the evolution of life histories even when fishing mortality is low, or that natural mortality has played an important role in determining selective pressures in these populations. Both options suggest that conditions for rapid life-history evolution in exploited stocks are less restrictive than previously appreciated.

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